See also the History & Genealogy databases page for historical or genealogical research databases.

All-encompassing

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
Cyndi Howells is a columnist for Heritage Quest magazine, the author of Netting Your Ancestors: Genealogical Research on the Internet, and creator of this website. It links thousands of sites through very specific categories based on subject, nationality or ethnicity. Don't get discouraged; the first page is very long, but it is worthwhile investigating every topic.

Familysearch.org: Family History and Genealogy Records
Site created and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Offers everything from how to get started in genealogy research to the entire US 1880 census online with searching capabilities. Also has information about using their Family History Library (the world's largest) and locating a nearby Family History Center.

Genealogy and Roots...the Genealogy Beat
A huge site linking Internet resources on virtually every aspect of family history. Of particular interest is the "Best Genealogy Links on the WWW" (page 16), a list that provides access to other large sites.

Genealogy Research Source List
This is a huge site (the first page covers 85 pages) with links to everything a genealogist would want: lineage societies, newsgroups, listservs, newspaper indexes, censuses, other libraries, maps and mapping services, phone directories, and more!

The Genealogy Home Page
A collection of a wide variety of online genealogical resources.

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American History

WWW-VL: History: United States
The Department of History of the University of Kansas and the Lehrstuhl fur Culture deutsche Literaturwissenschaft der Universitadt Regensburg maintain this site. It links together sites on American history according to subject and/or time period. This site is a part of the larger Index of Resources (http://www.vlib.us/history/).

Mayflower and Early Families
This site provides numerous links to sites pertaining to the New England states (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts) and their history, places, people, and events. A search engine allows the user to do simple or complex searches of the entire site.

MayflowerHistory.com
This site links the user to all things Mayflower: passenger lists, documents (letters, wills, treaties), descendants, societies, etc. Additional articles provide advice and direction on researching and proving a Mayflower ancestor.

Descendants of Mexican War Veterans
This site is dedicated to the history of the U.S.-Mexican War (1846-1848). The site index will guide the user to assistance and advice in searching for and identifying ancestors who fought in this conflict.

The U.S. Civil War Center
This is a very large website devoted to the Civil War, sponsored by Louisiana State University. Links are grouped into archives and special collections, books and magazines, biographies, soldiers and units (including muster rolls and regimental histories), documents, battlefields, reenactment units, and much more. The site's goal is to compile all Civil War sites on the Web.

The American Civil War Homepage
This is another huge website that links together the most useful electronic files on the Civil War. Sites are grouped by category: General Resources; The Secession Crisis and Before; Images of Wartime; Biographical Information; Histories and Bibliographies; Documentary Records; State/Local Studies -- by State; Battles & Campaigns; Rosters & Regimental Histories; Other Military Information; Civil War Reenactors; Civil War Round Tables; Fictional Accounts of Wartime.

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
This site is sponsored by the National Parks Service in conjunction with the National Archives and Records Administration. Their ongoing project is to provide an electronic database of the paper index of Civil War soldiers and sailors currently in existence. The database will include all of the estimated 6.3 million records of soldiers who served in the Federal and Confederate armies and navies. The United States Colored Troops, the USCT link, is the only database currently accessible.

The Civil War in South Carolina
This offers detailed information about the role of South Carolina and its soldiers and politicians in the Civil War. Users can access documents of succession and the names of those who signed it, regimental histories and muster rolls, and personal recollections. Brief information about southerners who emigrated to Brazil during Reconstruction is also available. Sources for all information provided in this website are duly noted.

In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience
This site captures a vital part of African-American history by presenting illustrations, texts, and maps. Organized around 13 defining migrations, each migrations is broken down into units. Browse by Migration, Geography, or Timeline or do a keyword search.

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Ethnicities & Nationalities

The African-Native American History and Genealogy Web Page
This site provides information about African Americans who were adopted into the Five Civilized Tribes of the southeastern United States and later emigrated to Indian Territory (Oklahoma). The links are to surnames, personal narratives, ghost towns, and other related topics.

AfriGeneas
“OUR MISSION: AfriGeneas provides resources, leadership, promotion and advocacy for the mutual development and use of a system of genealogy for researching African related ancestry.”

Afro-American Genealogical Research-Bibliographies and Guides
Guides and bibliographies to aid African American family history research, recommended by the Library of Congress.

All Things Cherokee (formerly, The Cherokee Genealogy Page)
The new name says it all. Cherokee researchers are connected to other researchers' queries, mailing lists, and more sites pertaining to Cherokee genealogy, history, language, traditions. A bibliography of recommended books to aid research is included.

Christine's Genealogy Website
This website provides links to many sites on African American genealogy and history. Of special interest are the online records from the Freedman's Bureau and slave schedules from the Federal censuses. Some sites include Hispanic and Native American genealogy as well.

Internet Sources of German Genealogy
This is a very large website linking other sites devoted to German genealogy, immigration, records, place names, and more. It also links to sites for Prussia, Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Russia, and Switzerland. Sites are in German and English.

JewishGen: The Home of Jewish Genealogy
This large website offers links to discussion groups and databases devoted to Jewish genealogy. The databases are numerous and varied in content; many are limited in scope to a specific geographic location or profession. The Infofiles provide more links to discussion groups, research assistance, FAQs, societies and bibliographies.

NARA-Genealogists/Family Historians-African American Research
Outline of materials available in the National Archives to aid African American family history research, with links to other resources.

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Specific Geographic Locales

The USGenWeb Project
The goal of this project is to provide a website for every county in every state of the U. S. This site links all the current state sites, and in turn, acts as a gateway to each state's county WebPages. All sites are maintained by volunteers; many counties are still waiting to be adopted. USGenWeb also provides links to two other projects: The Census Project (transcribing Federal censuses to the web) and The Tombstone Project (an on-line inventory of cemeteries around the U.S.). Both of these are still under construction.

ROOTS-L Texas
This site provides links to dozens of Texas related genealogy and history site: city and county information, societies, mailing lists, Alamo information, Civil War veterans, censuses, archives, and more.

Records for Genealogy
This site has lots of links to sites dedicated to Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

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Immigration

Ellis Island Passenger Arrivals

Castle Garden (America's first Immigration Center)

Immigrant Ship Transcriber's Guild

Passenger Lists on the Internet

TheShipsList

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Libraries & Archives

The National Archives and Records Administration
The NARA is the storehouse of all federal records-census, tax, military, congressional, immigration. While not providing on-line access to the records themselves, this site does tell the user how to request records and where to get them.

Librarians Serving Genealogists: Genealogy Libraries
This site provides links to libraries with significant genealogy collections. It includes both international and U. S. libraries, the United States section being arranged by individual state. Materials may be requested through Interlibrary Loan, but all requests are subject to the owner-library's guidelines.

Texas State Library and Archives
The Texas State Library maintains a collection of genealogical and archival materials. Select "Archives and Manuscripts" to be connected to the online catalog, and be provided with information about records that are--and more importantly, are not-on-line. Many items can be requested through interlibrary loan.

Dallas Public Library
The Central Library houses a vast collection of genealogical materials in a variety of formats. On-line access allows the user to search before traveling downtown.

The Clayton Library (Houston Public Library)
This is the online catalog of the Clayton Library, the genealogical special collection of Houston Public Library.

The Newberry Library, Chicago
The Newberry Library is a privately funded, yet open to the public, library specializing in the humanities. The genealogy collection encompasses all areas of the United States. This site provides access to the on-line catalog, searchable by title, author, subject, keyword, and call number. Users can also consult bibliographies of materials for assistance in searching national and ethnic groups. There is also an essay on getting started in genealogy for those who are just learning about this topic.

Allen County Public Library-Genealogy
Located in Indiana, Allen County Public Library boasts the largest collection of genealogical material in a public library in the U.S., approximately 900,000 items. The online catalog is accessible to all users and can be searched by author, title, and subject; however, electronic databases require an ACPL card. Links to other genealogy websites are provided.

Inflation Calculator
This interesting site calculates yesterday's dollar into today's value. The user enters an amount of money and a year (1800-2005) and receives an answer. Great for calculating ancestors' material worth today.

Larry Stephen's Genealogy Page
This is a compilation of many listservs devoted to genealogical research. Many of them focus one particular area of the United States. Instructions for subscribing are included with each one.

The News Stand
This site is sponsored by the Mobile (Alabama) Genealogical Society. It contains information on (and links to) genealogy columns appearing in newspapers around the world. The entries are grouped by country (currently all English-speaking). Each column's entry includes the frequency of publication, the geographical scope of interest, newspapers in which it appears, a mailing address for submitting queries, and an email address when available. Occasionally, the columns have been archived on the web, so that the user can access them directly.

Soundex Converter by RootsWeb
Calculate the soundex code for a surname.

USGS Mapping Information: The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
This site is sponsored by the U. S. Department of the Interior. The GNIS contains information about 2 million physical and cultural geographic features in the United Sates.

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Miscellaneous

The Association for Gravestone Studies
While not a genealogy site, per se, it does provide useful information to family historians through its links to cemetery-related sites. Of particular interest is the information on tombstone art and symbols, and methods for cleaning and reading old markers.

Behind the Name
This site is a searchable list of names, both male and female, and their meanings. It provides links from nicknames and diminutives to the "real" name.

Northeast Document Conservation Center
The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) provides short articles on caring for old documents, such as deeds, letters, and diaries. Several articles are about identifying and caring for old photographs.

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Pedigree Charts & Name Indices

Census On Line: Census Sites on the Web
This site provides links to indexes of censuses, arranged by state, county, and year. It also provides information about professional researchers and sources for microfilm copies of censuses. Much of this site is currently under construction, but it is still worthwhile.

GeneaNet
This site is built from family trees submitted by subscribers. It provides a searchable index of surnames and links to the subscriber. Searches can be limited to an area or state of the United States or by type of source. You do not have to be a member to use the index; if you choose to join you must make your information available on the web. The database is also available in German, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian. Geneanet also provides links to other major websites such as U. S. GenWeb Project, and Ancestry.

RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative
This is one of the oldest genealogy sites on the Web, having been founded in 1988. Its database of surnames is available for the public to search for free and correspond with others researching the same surname. Other special services are available to members. This site also provides links to hundreds of other genealogy sites.

Vitalrec.com
"This site explains how to obtain vital records (such as birth certificates, death records, marriage licenses and divorce decrees) from each state, territory and county of the United States. See the guidelines for information on how to order vital records."

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Societies & Organizations

Peters Colony Historical Society of Dallas County (Carrollton, Farmers Branch)

Arlington Genealogical Society

Collin County Genealogical Society (McKinney, Plano)

Dallas Genealogical Society

Fort Worth Genealogical Society

Irving Genealogical Society

Mid-Cities Genealogical Society (Hurst, Euless, Bedford)

Texas State Genealogical Society Web Page
This site provides information about the society's membership, activities, and publications. It also has links to many Texas related sites.

See also the History & Genealogy databases page for historical or genealogical research databases.

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